Below you'll find excerpts of letters we've received from Back to Godhead readers. We welcome your letters. To send one, use our feedback form. Or mail your letter to BTG, PO Box 430, Alachua, FL 32616, USA.

Mind-blowing

It was really a pleasure reading the [recent] issue of BTG. The article by Kalakantha Dasa on the research project of Dhira Govinda Dasa was mindblowing. I am a postgraduate student at the University of Mauritius. Many times I have tried to apply the teachings of Shrila Prabhupada to my research studies, but I was always unsuccessful. When I read that article, I was really inspired. In my opinion, BTG magazine should publish more articles related to the personal experience of Shrila Prabhupada's teachings in everyday life. This will surely inspire more people to take to Krishna consciousness and to strengthen the determination of Krishna conscious devotees.

Veer Ramloghun
Mauritius (Via the Internet)

Uplifting

I am an ardent follower of this beautiful magazine. I come from a family with a strong religious background, all widely read in the holy scriptures. We were disciplined to follow the strict Vedic rules. I would like to give my heartfelt gratitude to all of you behind the superb BTG. Every time I receive an issue, I look forward to the next one. I'm getting spiritual upliftment from every issue.

Subramaniyam Baskaran
Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

Awesome

BTG is awesome. It reads beautifully. All the devotees who contribute are doing an incredible job. I can't wait for the next issue.

I remember the first time I ran across a devotee of Krishna. If I could see him again, would he remember me? I wonder if he knows that what we talked about (on the KrishnaFest bus) had a profound effect on the way I would think about God for the rest of my life. Now I'm swallowing up as many of Prabhupada's books as I can, chanting sixteen rounds every morning, and learning how to cook prasadam.

All glories to the hardworking devotees behind the scenes of the only magazine that really needs to be at Borders bookstore.

Jason Pearson
Chicago, Illinois

Worship of Devas (demigods)

I was reading Shrila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita As It Is, which I really like. In Chapter 7, verse 20-23, Krishna describes the worshipers of devas (demigods) as less intelligent. But in Chapter 10 He describes Himself as many devas, such as Indra, Shiva, and Brahma. So is Chapter 10 saying that worship of the devas is all right?

Dhenulover
Via the Internet

OUR REPLY: In Chapter 10 Lord Krishna reveals that the best of everything in this world represents Him. In that sense these things are Krishna, but Krishna doesn't suggest we worship Him by worshiping examples of His opulence. He says that among fish He is the shark, but we don't worship sharks. Similarly, because Indra, Shiva, and Brahma are chief among the devas, they represent some aspect of Krishna's unlimited power, but Krishna says in the ninth chapter that worshiping them is avidhi purvakam, or against the rules. Because everything in the material world is Krishna's energy, it is in a sense Krishna. But Krishna tells us to worship Him—the person—and not His energy.

Question About Offenses

I was reading the [recent] issue of BTG, and I have two questions about the offenses in chanting God's name.

Offense 7: Teaching the glories of the Lord's names to the faithless.

I thought that was something that we should do: By teaching and preaching about the Lord, we can try to bring faith to those who don't have it.

Offense 9: Being inattentive while chanting the holy name.

When I tell devotees that I'm struggling while chanting my rounds because I can't concentrate, some devotees say, "Don't think! Just chant and be happy. Chant any place, anytime."

These two offenses confuse me. Can you clarify them?

Patricia Medici
Via the Internet

OUR REPLY: Our predecessor guru Shrila Rupa Gosvami teaches that devotees should teach the innocent and avoid the demoniac. So we take "faithless" here to mean those who are clearly antagonistic toward Krishna consciousness. We avoid trying to teach such persons, because they will offend Krishna. Innocent persons, however, can hear without offense, even if their faith has not yet been awakened.

We should try to concentrate when we chant Hare Krishna. It seems devotees are just trying to encourage you by saying, "Don't worry about it too much. We all have a hard time concentrating. Just do your best."

Concern for the Environment

I love reading your magazine. It is one of the only ways I can be in contact with other devotees. Still, I'm concerned that with so much emphasis on leaving the material world and our bodies to get to the spiritual world with Krishna, this philosophy is creating an ethic that disregards the earth we live on. Why isn't nature revered and loved just as much as Krishna? Is not the world, our environment, Krishna too? How can ISKCON join forces with the environmental movement to heal the relationship between people and land?

Lauren Rentenbach
Perscott, Arizona

OUR REPLY: You're right in saying that as devotees of Krishna we should respect His creation, and Shrila Prabhupada always taught that. (See Divine Nature, by Mukunda Goswami and Drutakarma Dasa, available from our Krishna.com Store.) Prabhupada himself showed respect for everything, because he knew that everything is connected to Krishna.

Still, we don't equate Krishna and His nature. As you may know, we accept the philosophy of "simultaneous oneness and difference": Krishna is one with His creation and different from it at the same time. So although we respect nature as Krishna's energy, we don't elevate it to the status of God.

You shouldn't get any argument from devotees about the sanctity of nature. What you might find is debate about how much of our energy should go into conservation. Prabhupada taught us to try to live simply, and most of us could improve in that area. But Prabhupada never told us, for example, to go out and raise money for environmental causes.

Still, Prabhupada did encourage us to spend money to set up Krishna conscious rural communities based on farming and cow protection, activities that improve the environment. He also liked nice gardens at his temples, and he argued against needless killing of animals, needless cutting of forests, and so on. He set goals that require us to collect and spend money in ways beneficial to creating a cleaner environment, one more hospitable to the practice of Krishna consciousness.

Ultimately, Prabhupada taught that Krishna consciousness solves all problems. So our mission is to give people Krishna. Environmental problems are only one of hundreds of problems that concern people. There are so many causes we could take up. But Prabhupada taught that trying to solve problems one by one is like trying to water a tree by watering its leaves and branches rather than its root.

Again, we agree that devotees could improve in their respect for the environment. And they will, as they advance in Krishna consciousness and learn more and more how to use the energy of Krishna in His service.